Faculty satisfaction and perception regarding emergency remote teaching : An exploratory study.

Background: The COVID 19 pandemic which made its presence felt by March 2020 made the educators and administrators, both of whom had very little experience with alternate teaching and learning methods, look for alternate methods of delivering the teaching learning. Because of the mandates from apex bodies, faculty members were forced to delve into an unknown territory of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This study aimed to explore the factors that contributed to faculty satisfaction for ERT, the challenges faced, and suggestions for improving online teaching. Method: A modified survey tool to suit ERT was developed which demonstrated favourable preliminary factor analysis (Bartlett's Test of Sphericity (p < .001) and the Kaiser- Mayer- Olkin measure of sampling adequacy, KMO = 0.811). Results: The EFA identified four factors, such as faculty-student interaction, faculty and IT-related, faculty training and faculty preparedness with heavy loading on faculty training, as important factors for improving faculty satisfaction for online teaching. Most of the faculty members were satisfied with the ERT. A trend of shared opinion was observed in capacity building and empowering the faculty community with full IT and course development support from the institution in the form of faculty development programmes and infrastructure development in order to equip them with emergency academic transitions. Conclusion: The modified Survey tool was valid in identifying the faculty perceptions regarding the ERT. Faculty felt that they managed to quickly move to online teaching due to the pandemic but felt that they needed better IT support and faculty development programmes to effectively adapt to online teaching. Students, too, need to be trained for online learning, as per faculty members.

Unusual Gigantiform Angiomatosis of Jawbone.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to highlight rare highly infiltrative massive Angiomatosis and depict surgical outcome of a rare case series of gigantic lesions in the maxillofacial region. Data were recorded from the medical records of patients. Predictor variables were drawn from demographics, age, gender, site, evaluation of surgical treatment. The outcome variables were the challenges encountered and related complications. Out of 6 patients, the youngest was 10 and the oldest was 26 years old. Soft tissue and jawbone involvement were seen in 3 patients each with a single massive lesion involving both maxilla and mandible. All 6 patients had wide excision of the lesion with one patient having 2 stage procedures. No complications or recurrence was seen at 1-year follow-up. Angiomatosis is a rare and benign lesion in the head and neck region. its diffuse infiltrating nature may give a false malignant picture. it clinically mimics Hemangioma or Arteriovenous (AV) malformation thus requires thorough evaluation and its surgical intervention is challenging as described in this case series because of its magnitude and infiltrative nature.

Revitalizing journal clubs: Millennial perspectives for enhancing student learning and engagement.

Background: Current trends in health professions education are aligned to meet the needs of the millennial learner. The aim of this study was to identify learners' perceptions of an ongoing journal club (JC) activity in the optometry curriculum and evaluate the utility and efficiency of this method in promoting student learning. Methods: A qualitative approach with a phenomenological research design was adopted. The perceptions of undergraduate and postgraduate optometry students about JCs were captured using focus group discussions. A narrative thematic analysis was done using the verbatim transcripts and moderator's notes. Results are reported using "consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research" guidelines. Results: A total of 33 optometry students participated in the study. Data analysis revealed three major themes related to (i) The ongoing practice of JC, (ii) student perceptions of JC and its relevance in facilitating student learning, and (iii) suggestions for modification of JC for achieving optimal educational outcomes. Discussion: Student feedback indicates that an instructional redesigning of JC is necessary, considering the characteristics and expectations of the current generation of learners and the rapid strides made in the field of educational technology. The recommendations provided are likely to resurrect an age-old approach that still has educational relevance if blended with collaborative learning formats and appropriate technology.

Fibrolipomatous Hamartoma of the Median Nerve: An Outcome of Surgical Management in Six Consecutive Cases.

BACKGROUND: Lipoma is a nonneurogenic benign tumor. Neurolipoma and fibrolipomatous hamartoma are variants of this universal tumor. All these variants are grouped under lipomatosis of the nerve. Majority of these tumors are asymptomatic, which can be observed. Symptomatic patients require surgery, which is not standardized. As there are insufficient number of cases, no randomized controlled studies have been performed in the treatment of fibrolipomatous hamartoma. The aim of our study was to determine the pattern of presentation of fibrolipomatous hamartoma, surgical management offered, and the outcome in the form of recovery and complications. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective descriptive study includes six patients diagnosed with fibrolipomatous hamartoma over a period of 12 years. Patient details were collected from the medical records. Patients diagnosed of fibrolipomatous hamartoma in the hand were included. Patients with other soft-tissue tumors were excluded from the study. Out of six patients, four required excision of nerve followed by reconstruction using sural nerve graft and two underwent microsurgical dissection of neural element. Patients were instructed to take care of the operated hand during the recovery phase. Institutional physiotherapy protocol was started during the 3rd postoperative week. Follow-up period was between 1 and 3 years. RESULTS: All the six patients were free from symptoms postoperatively. Minimal complications were noted in two patients, which were managed conservatively. CONCLUSION: Surgical excision of fibrolipomatous hamartoma of median nerve below elbow, with nerve dissection or with nerve reconstruction using sural nerve graft, followed by proper postoperative care and physiotherapy has proven beneficial for the patients in our study.

Performance of Plusoptix A09 Photo Screener in Refractive Error Screening in School Children Aged between 5 and 15 Years in the Southern Part of India.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the performance of Plusoptix A09 in detecting ametropia, warranted against frequently-used technique of retinoscopy in children attending school (5-15 years) and its probability as a screening tool. METHODS: This study was the subset of a larger epidemiological study visual acuity refractive error squint conducted in schools to determine the prevalence of ocular morbidity among the 5-15 years' school children population. Every 7th student in the class (each school had mean value of 100 students) was randomly selected for this study after ascertaining their eligibility as per the inclusion criteria. A cohort of a total of 150 children within the age group of 5-15 (mean, 10.21 ± 2.83) years were recruited from 11 schools of Udupi district. Students with best corrected visual acuity of 20/20, refractive error within ±5.00 diopter (D), without any eccentric fixation, and no history of ocular pathology or seizures were recruited. Refractive error was tested by Plusoptix photorefractor followed by non-cycloplegic and cycloplegic retinoscopic techniques. The examiners performing these tests were masked and unware of the findings. Bland Altman plotted the agreement between the techniques, followed by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC), and sensitivity of Plusoptix. RESULTS: One-way analysis of variance calculated statistical differences among Plusoptix, objective retinoscopy, and cycloplegic retinoscopy for mean spherical value (1.12 ± 1.16 D, 0.65 ± 0.69 D, and 0.8 ± 0.82 D), cylindrical value (-0.83 D ± 1.27, -0.32 D ± 0.86, and -0.34 D ± -0.93), and spherical equivalent value (0.71 D ± 1.06, 0.45 D ± 0.7, and 0.61 D ± 0.81), with P = 0.0001, 0.0001, and 0.097, respectively. Bland Altman plots showed good agreement for spherical equivalent values of Plusoptix and objective retinoscopy. However, the area under the ROC curve (0.386) suggests that lower diagnostic ability of this device in this age group population in comparison to retinoscopy (0.575) with the sensitivity and specificity of Plusoptix was 69.2% and 84.8%. CONCLUSIONS: This study fails to report ideal sensitivity mandated for a screening tool, although good specificity and agreement are observed. Along with retinoscopy, this tool will be effective in screening a children's population aged between the age group of 5 and 15 years.

Prevalence of visual impairment in school-going children among the rural and urban setups in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India: A cross-sectional study.

AIM: The aim of this study is to estimate the prevalence of visual impairment among school-going children in Udupi district, Karnataka. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study across eleven schools from both urban and rural parts of Udupi taluk was conducted to report the magnitude of visual impairment among the schoolchildren. Complex survey design was used in allocating the sample size through stratification and clustering. Totally 1784 schoolchildren between the age groups of 5 and 15 years participated in the study. Presenting visual acuity and objective refraction was measured using computerized logMAR acuity charts and Plusoptix A09 photorefractor, respectively. Manifest ocular deviation or squint was also recorded. RESULTS: The mean age of the students was found to be 10.62 ± 2.72 years. The prevalence of visual impairment, i.e., visual acuity worse than or equal to 20/40 in the better eye was found to be 4.32% (95% confidence interval: 3.38%, 5.26%). The prevalence rate was significantly higher among students from urban area (5.6%) compared to those from rural area (3.6%) (P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: Visual impairment was found to be 4.32% in the school-going population of Udupi district. Effective and user-friendly devices aided the visual deficit screening including refractive error and squint.

Isolated complete cleft.

Cleft sternum is a rare congenital anomaly due to failure of fusion of the sternal bone. The etiology of this defect is not well understood. The anomaly is more common in females and may be associated with Cantrell's pentalogy. It can be partial or complete. An 8-year-old female child presented with complete defect in the sternum which was confirmed with a chest radiograph and computed tomography. Only 24 cases of isolated complete cleft sternum have been reported so far. The treatment ranges from primary closure of the defect to the use of various autologous and prosthetic grafts. Our patient was treated with primary closure of the defect.

A comparison of near-dissociated heterophoria tests in free space.

BACKGROUND: Many clinical techniques exist to quantify the magnitude of heterophoria in free space. In this article, we determine the agreement between the modified Thorington test and three different tests for dissociated heterophoria at near distance in free space. METHODS: The modified Thorington, Maddox rod, von Graefe and alternate cover tests were performed on 49 university students at near distance in free space. The 95% limits of agreement between the modified Thorington and other tests were compared in pairs by using the Bland-Altman statistical test. RESULTS: While the Maddox rod-modified Thorington pair showed narrow 95% limit range (2.5 to -3.34(Δ) ) between each other compared to the von Graefe-modified Thorington (4.2 to -3.15(Δ) ) and alternate cover test-modified Thorington pairs (4.52 to -2.77(Δ) ), none of the three tests showed good agreement with the modified Thorington test. CONCLUSION: The modified Thorington test cannot be interchanged with the other three near tests for heterophoria in free space. The accuracy in the measurement and the different methods of dissociation may play a crucial role in comparisons of the different tests for heterophoria.

Traumatic expulsive aniridia after phacoemulsification.

Blunt trauma is usually associated with severe ocular damage particularly in eyes following cataract surgery. Small, self-sealing incision cataract surgery is changing the pattern of presentation of such cases, with relatively favorable outcomes. We describe a case of blunt trauma following phacoemulsification leading to aniridia.